A Greek holiday weekend in hopping Mykonos

Trip Start Apr 08, 2007
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Trip End Oct 01, 2007


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Monday, May 28, 2007

Island number two and we've had perfect island weather for it. We got out of Santorini yesterday at 11:20 in the morning on a fast boat, which took just under three hours to blow on up here. Expecting prices to be similar to what we saw in Santorini, the arrival at the port was a bit of a shock. The cheapest thing going was €70 for a double at some small town well away from Mykonos town and it all went up from there. Even the accommodations office couldn't offer anything better than €80, so we were sweating it a bit. Luckily, after deciding to scout around one more time for any offers, I found a guy offering a room outside of town for €40 a night. It turned out to be a good 15-20 minutes walk away from Mykonos town, with shared facilities and fairly barebones, but at least the family running it was friendly and welcoming (even giving us a lift to the beach after we got in yesterday). Still, it was a big switch from the luxury that we had in Santorini.

Mykonos town is a pretty place, with a long picturesque waterfront and loads of beautiful whitewashed houses with flower-filled balconies and windowsills Agios Giorgios beach
Agios Giorgios beach
 . It's a baffling place to maneuver about though; apparently the town was designed to confuse pirates, who were a regular occurrence a few centuries ago. We got well lost yesterday evening after watching the sun go down and only fared a little better wandering through it today. Restaurants and bars ain't cheap though - Mykonos hasn't earned its reputation as the most expensive of the Cyclades for nothing! We decided though tonight that we deserved a splurge though, and shelled out a little extra for a lovely dinner of mixed Greek appetizers, stuffed tomatoes and pastitsio (a baked macaroni dish similar to lasagna). Worth it, for sure.

We haven't really done a whole lot here. With us staying so far from the main bus terminal, we stuck to spending our time around Mykonos town and the beach of Agios Giorgios, which was just up the road from our hotel. We did go out on one little daytrip today though, spending the morning at the neighboring island of Delos. Historically the most important of the Cyclades, Delos is now its premier archaeological site and is fully protected as national and cultural treasure. Since no one is allowed to stay on the island and the government wants visits to be relatively controlled, it's really only possible to spend a total of six hours on the island. Three outbound boats leave at hourly intervals in the morning, and the return ones follow likewise from 12:15 until 15:00. With few trees around and an excess of marble and stone though, it's a steaming hot place on sunny days, so I can't imagine anyone wanting to stay longer Early evening over Mykonos town
Early evening over Mykonos town
 . But the visit was well worth it, as the site itself is very extensive with a tremendous amount of ruins to take in. Mayu got a wee bit bored while we there, but she perked up when we climbed to the top of the island for a beautiful view out to the surrounding islands.

Tonight's our last night in the islands as we return to Athens by ferry at 12:45 tomorrow. It's actually very well-timed though: after two days of hot, sunny weather, it's supposed to get grey and rainy from early morning. Sounds like an ideal day to spend in transit. That is, so long as the seas don't get too rough . . . that won't make for much of an enjoyable trip.

We have two nights in Athens and one full day to look around before Mayu flies out on Wednesday. After that I move on solo, which is going to be a bit strange after all the time we've been traveling together. Should be an adjustment.
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